The Blue Jackets’ R.J. Umberger, who won a Calder Cup championship with the Phantoms, returns to Philly Thursday night to play against his old team and old friend Steve Mason. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

PHILADELPHIA — R.J. Umberger took the time during a rare visit to Philadelphia Thursday to reminisce. Umberger, the Pittsburgh-area native and Ohio State product whose first professional season culminated in a Calder Cup championship with the Phantoms, is more than five years removed from his days with the Flyers.

“It feels like a long time ago. A lifetime,” he said. “A lot’s changed since then. ... There’s not too many guys on the team from when I was here.”

One Flyer that Umberger is very familiar with is the goalie he was opposing Thursday night, Steve Mason. Umberger was a guiding force and roommate to Mason in Columbus. It was Umberger, in his first season with the Blue Jackets then, who handed Mason the puck after the rookie’s first victory Nov. 5, 2008. Mason went on to a dream season, winning the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year the following spring.

But as Mason, who came to the Flyers in a trade, has recounted so often, while starting for Columbus he never seemed able to return quite to the form he had that first season. It wasn’t long before that got to him.

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“He struggled trying to find his game,” Umberger said. “He had a lot of people work with him. It just became too much for him. I don’t think anyone would ever question his ability. He’s a big, sound goaltender, he’s very athletic, and when he’s on his game he’s scary good because he takes up so much net. But it was pretty miserable with all the losing (with the Blue Jackets) for a couple of years in a row. That reflects mostly on the goaltender. He had a lot of the spotlight on him and he wasn’t living up to people’s expectations or his own. It just wore on him mentally.”

Mason’s numbers slipped slowly but steadily, and he lost his starting role to former Flyer Sergei Bobrovsky during the 2011-12 season. Finally, Mason was sent to Philadelphia at the trade deadline of the labor-shortened 2012-13 season, and shined in goal for a mediocre team playing in front of an inconsistent and often distracting starting goalie in Ilya Bryzgalov.

“It seemed like oil and vinegar,” Umberger said of Mason’s introverted personality going to this Flyers team. “But he’s done a great job. I think he enjoys the city, the guys on the team. I just think it’s a cultural fit for him.

“He’ll be the first guy to tell you he probably should have gone down to the minors or something in Columbus after his rookie year,” Umberger added, “but we didn’t have that luxury ... we needed him.”

Mason carried a strong and steady persona into training camp in the fall, and has had a mostly standout season as the starter, with Ray Emery offering backup support.

“He’s like the guy who was playing with so much confidence his rookie year,” Umberger said. “We always talked about his poise in his rookie year, how a kid so young could be so poised. He looks like that (again) ... he’s confident and having fun.”

So how did Umberger plan to celebrate playing against his old friend for the first time?

“I’m going to try to make his night miserable,” he said. “I’m going to be in that crease all night.”

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Brayden Schenn didn’t have as much as a baseline test this week, and was cleared to play Thursday night against Columbus. Schenn exhibited no concussion symptoms after getting clocked into the boards by Washington’s Tom Wilson Sunday. He did have to go through concussion protocol tests by the club trainers, however. He said prior to the game Thursday that he was dealing only with minor soreness.

“I feel blessed,” he said. “I don’t think I ever went head first into the boards. ... I got real lucky on that play. You have an impact like that the whole body has to be realigned or readjusted. I still have some stiffness but other than that I feel good. ... The head’s good and that’s the main thing.”

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Vinny Lecavalier missed another game but was on the ice for the duration of the morning skate. Lecavalier, out with a non-displaced fracture in his back, said he’d had his “best day so far, for sure.” He added it was “possible” he’d join the team on its road trip after Christmas.